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1962 Indianapolis '500' Festival Souvenir Program

page73

1
The uFord Festival" or
Who Else Will Win
Maybe they'll call it the Ford Festival
Open Invitational next year. For the last
two years this "500" Festival 72-hole event
has belonged to Doug Ford, the only
golfer who has earned $286,594.46 since
1947 and been in the top ten for 10 of the
last 11 years.
As Ford and Arnie Palmer walked onto
the 72nd green in the second annual
Speedway classic it seemed that Ford was
in again. He grinned a little as he said
to Arnie—"Now let's not be cute. Let's
take our two putts and go home."
On the premises that has seen so many
thrilling finishes among racing drivers,
Palmer, who is as much a sports fan as
he is a golfer, rolled in a putt of nearly
50 feet for an eagle, a 66 and 273. That
turned out to be good for a tie as Ford
took two putts for a 68 and 273, eleven
strokes under par.
Asked recently just how he felt about
Palmer's putt at the moment, Doug said:
"I thought that put the icing on a year
that had been going at that speed. It
seemed no matter what I did was wrong.
-t^I said to myself—'I guess I'm not supposed
■o win, this caps a great year'."
During the first "500" Doug had come
from behind to overtake Jerry Barber and
win with 270 to Jerry's 272. He had finished with a 68. Barber slumped to a 73.
Now one year later Doug had not come
home first once in the intervening 12
months. It seemed reasonable that he
would have his doubts among winning a
sudden death, or any other kind of a
playoff.
"I don't think I ever heard a roar
greater than when Arnie holed that putt,
but maybe it was just my state of mind,"
said Doug recently. At the moment it
appeared that the only thing he had in
mind was getting out of the place in a
hurry as he started for the first tee saying: "Come on Arnie, let's get it over
with." And get it over with he did—a
birdie diree on the second extra hole. It
took something special not to panic at
that time. Speaking of that second hole,
Doug said "I always played safe there.
I had used a 3-iron and a wedge before
and saw no reason to change. I played it
safe beyond that tree in the fairway."
The putt went down and Doug was in
again.
The fastest player on the circuit and
certainly one of the most underrated he
has played eight consecutive Speedway
^rounds in the 60s. In '60 it was a starting
(W)6, then three 68s for 270 and last year
a pair of 69s to which he added 67 and
68 for 273. Why so well here? "Well I've
been able to adapt to conditions of the
course. For instance, the first year the
greens were slow and soft but last year
they were fast and hard. And I think the
reason I won was the wind. I've always
played well in the wind. It's the kind of
a course where 1 try not to make bogeys
rather than play for birdies," said the
40-year-old New Yorker who didn't have a
single bogey in his final round.
Ford's greatest thrill in the game of
golf was not in winning the only two
"500" tournaments nor the shot he hit
from a sand bunker into the cup on the
last hole of the Masters in '57. "I think
beating Middlecofl in the 1955 PGA was
my greatest thrill," said Doug who is one
of six players who have won the PGA and
the Masters. The others are Henry Pic-
ard, Byron Nelson, Sam Snead, Ben Hogan and Gene Sarazen.
The bringing of major league golf to
Indianapolis didn't just happen. The
staging of such a tournament requires the
help of about 350 volunteers. These people not only work for the week without
pay, but also buy their own 310 season
tickets. Various committee chairmen put
in countless hours ironing out details before the shooting starts.
Joe Dawson, general chairman this
year, was in charge of buildings and
grounds last year. On the concluding
Sunday early in the morning Dawson was
standing up by the clubhouse with Clarence Cagle, the Speedway's representative,
Dick Stackhouse, former Festival president, and one or two other early birds.
"Suddenly," Dawson said, "we noticed
that trash in a big truck was ablaze.
Salvation Army workers were cleaning up
the place and their truck was very close to
a radio mobile unit full of expensive
equipment. While the rest of us were
wondering what to do about it, Cagle
grabbed a rake and put out the fire."
This was Cagle's second event of the
week. Due to leaks at attendance gates
the first year, Dick Fague, 1961 tournament chairman and his committee, decided to hire professional security men
from the Burns Detective Agency. These
men were instructed to admit only those
who had proper identification or tickets.
"At 6:30 Monday morning guards at
the main grate refused to allow Clarence,
superintendent of the Speedway, to enter," said Fague.
"Cagle suggested that he be allowed
in or he would lock up the whole place.
This got him no where with the guard so
Clarence kept right on walking and pulling a bunch of keys from his pocket, he
unlocked the gate and walked in." The
guard was convinced that someone had
slipped a cog.
"The funniest thing that happened last
year," said Mike Sullivan, now in his
ninth year as Speedway's head profes-
-73-
W. F. FOX, Jr.
sional, "took place last Wednesday afternoon. Tommy Bolt, former Open champion, arrived and wanted to take a quick
look at a few holes. He had a gallery of
about 50 and being in a state of what the
late Jack Lavellc referred to as amiable
incandescence. The gallery started calling for hooks and slices. Bolt was fading
and drawing shots according to order and
he hit every one of the five greens he
played."
On Friday of tournament week, the
weatherman came up with a lulu. Temperatures dropped to 37 degrees. Players
and gallery, marshals and caddies, scoreboard servants and women markers, press,
TV and radio were practically frozen.
One Festival worker reported that Dow
Finsterwald knocked in five consecutive
birdies and then five straight bogeys.
Blankets were rushed from the Red Cross
and all the charcoal available in Speedway was purchased to keep the burners
red hot. One call from the press tent to
the 18th green scoreboard asking a check
on the standing at the moment brought
a firm feminine reply—"To hell with the
scores, bring us more blankets."
In spite of such inconvenience Mrs.
Lou Bola, women's chairman, has rounded
up 200 women laborers. John David,
tournament director, had no trouble
building an efficient staff of helpers. Joe
Theobald, chairman of marshals, and
Arnold (Ben) Bodine, chairman of caddies, had ample applicants. For the first-
time ticket chairman for the Junior
League, Mrs. Fred Lesh sold the 150 $400
bundles of tickets which entitled the purchaser to name one amateur to the pro-
celebrity field.
Ford, who has made $33.15 for every
stroke he has taken in this tournament,
hopes to become the third man since 1950
to win a PGA event diree times in succession. Bill Casper, Jr., who owns the
Speedway course record of 62, won the
Portland, Oregon Open in 1959, '60 and
'61, and Gene Littler took the Tournament of Champions in 1955, '56 and '57.
The third "500" tournament may take
on added significance this year with Hoosier Joe Campbell showing so much improvement. In previous starts here Joe
finished in a tie for 41st with 280 in 1*960
and in a tie for 56th with 292. This year,
however, jaunty Joe lost the Crosby top
money to Ford in a one-hole playoff, taking a bogey five to Ford's par four. Ford
came out of a sand bunker to hole a
four-foot put. Joe took three from the
edge. Recently Joe shot 68-70-67-69 for
274 to win at Baton Rouge, La., and last
November Joe won the Beaumont, Tex.,
Open with*277.

1
The uFord Festival" or
Who Else Will Win
Maybe they'll call it the Ford Festival
Open Invitational next year. For the last
two years this "500" Festival 72-hole event
has belonged to Doug Ford, the only
golfer who has earned $286,594.46 since
1947 and been in the top ten for 10 of the
last 11 years.
As Ford and Arnie Palmer walked onto
the 72nd green in the second annual
Speedway classic it seemed that Ford was
in again. He grinned a little as he said
to Arnie—"Now let's not be cute. Let's
take our two putts and go home."
On the premises that has seen so many
thrilling finishes among racing drivers,
Palmer, who is as much a sports fan as
he is a golfer, rolled in a putt of nearly
50 feet for an eagle, a 66 and 273. That
turned out to be good for a tie as Ford
took two putts for a 68 and 273, eleven
strokes under par.
Asked recently just how he felt about
Palmer's putt at the moment, Doug said:
"I thought that put the icing on a year
that had been going at that speed. It
seemed no matter what I did was wrong.
-t^I said to myself—'I guess I'm not supposed
■o win, this caps a great year'."
During the first "500" Doug had come
from behind to overtake Jerry Barber and
win with 270 to Jerry's 272. He had finished with a 68. Barber slumped to a 73.
Now one year later Doug had not come
home first once in the intervening 12
months. It seemed reasonable that he
would have his doubts among winning a
sudden death, or any other kind of a
playoff.
"I don't think I ever heard a roar
greater than when Arnie holed that putt,
but maybe it was just my state of mind,"
said Doug recently. At the moment it
appeared that the only thing he had in
mind was getting out of the place in a
hurry as he started for the first tee saying: "Come on Arnie, let's get it over
with." And get it over with he did—a
birdie diree on the second extra hole. It
took something special not to panic at
that time. Speaking of that second hole,
Doug said "I always played safe there.
I had used a 3-iron and a wedge before
and saw no reason to change. I played it
safe beyond that tree in the fairway."
The putt went down and Doug was in
again.
The fastest player on the circuit and
certainly one of the most underrated he
has played eight consecutive Speedway
^rounds in the 60s. In '60 it was a starting
(W)6, then three 68s for 270 and last year
a pair of 69s to which he added 67 and
68 for 273. Why so well here? "Well I've
been able to adapt to conditions of the
course. For instance, the first year the
greens were slow and soft but last year
they were fast and hard. And I think the
reason I won was the wind. I've always
played well in the wind. It's the kind of
a course where 1 try not to make bogeys
rather than play for birdies," said the
40-year-old New Yorker who didn't have a
single bogey in his final round.
Ford's greatest thrill in the game of
golf was not in winning the only two
"500" tournaments nor the shot he hit
from a sand bunker into the cup on the
last hole of the Masters in '57. "I think
beating Middlecofl in the 1955 PGA was
my greatest thrill," said Doug who is one
of six players who have won the PGA and
the Masters. The others are Henry Pic-
ard, Byron Nelson, Sam Snead, Ben Hogan and Gene Sarazen.
The bringing of major league golf to
Indianapolis didn't just happen. The
staging of such a tournament requires the
help of about 350 volunteers. These people not only work for the week without
pay, but also buy their own 310 season
tickets. Various committee chairmen put
in countless hours ironing out details before the shooting starts.
Joe Dawson, general chairman this
year, was in charge of buildings and
grounds last year. On the concluding
Sunday early in the morning Dawson was
standing up by the clubhouse with Clarence Cagle, the Speedway's representative,
Dick Stackhouse, former Festival president, and one or two other early birds.
"Suddenly," Dawson said, "we noticed
that trash in a big truck was ablaze.
Salvation Army workers were cleaning up
the place and their truck was very close to
a radio mobile unit full of expensive
equipment. While the rest of us were
wondering what to do about it, Cagle
grabbed a rake and put out the fire."
This was Cagle's second event of the
week. Due to leaks at attendance gates
the first year, Dick Fague, 1961 tournament chairman and his committee, decided to hire professional security men
from the Burns Detective Agency. These
men were instructed to admit only those
who had proper identification or tickets.
"At 6:30 Monday morning guards at
the main grate refused to allow Clarence,
superintendent of the Speedway, to enter," said Fague.
"Cagle suggested that he be allowed
in or he would lock up the whole place.
This got him no where with the guard so
Clarence kept right on walking and pulling a bunch of keys from his pocket, he
unlocked the gate and walked in." The
guard was convinced that someone had
slipped a cog.
"The funniest thing that happened last
year," said Mike Sullivan, now in his
ninth year as Speedway's head profes-
-73-
W. F. FOX, Jr.
sional, "took place last Wednesday afternoon. Tommy Bolt, former Open champion, arrived and wanted to take a quick
look at a few holes. He had a gallery of
about 50 and being in a state of what the
late Jack Lavellc referred to as amiable
incandescence. The gallery started calling for hooks and slices. Bolt was fading
and drawing shots according to order and
he hit every one of the five greens he
played."
On Friday of tournament week, the
weatherman came up with a lulu. Temperatures dropped to 37 degrees. Players
and gallery, marshals and caddies, scoreboard servants and women markers, press,
TV and radio were practically frozen.
One Festival worker reported that Dow
Finsterwald knocked in five consecutive
birdies and then five straight bogeys.
Blankets were rushed from the Red Cross
and all the charcoal available in Speedway was purchased to keep the burners
red hot. One call from the press tent to
the 18th green scoreboard asking a check
on the standing at the moment brought
a firm feminine reply—"To hell with the
scores, bring us more blankets."
In spite of such inconvenience Mrs.
Lou Bola, women's chairman, has rounded
up 200 women laborers. John David,
tournament director, had no trouble
building an efficient staff of helpers. Joe
Theobald, chairman of marshals, and
Arnold (Ben) Bodine, chairman of caddies, had ample applicants. For the first-
time ticket chairman for the Junior
League, Mrs. Fred Lesh sold the 150 $400
bundles of tickets which entitled the purchaser to name one amateur to the pro-
celebrity field.
Ford, who has made $33.15 for every
stroke he has taken in this tournament,
hopes to become the third man since 1950
to win a PGA event diree times in succession. Bill Casper, Jr., who owns the
Speedway course record of 62, won the
Portland, Oregon Open in 1959, '60 and
'61, and Gene Littler took the Tournament of Champions in 1955, '56 and '57.
The third "500" tournament may take
on added significance this year with Hoosier Joe Campbell showing so much improvement. In previous starts here Joe
finished in a tie for 41st with 280 in 1*960
and in a tie for 56th with 292. This year,
however, jaunty Joe lost the Crosby top
money to Ford in a one-hole playoff, taking a bogey five to Ford's par four. Ford
came out of a sand bunker to hole a
four-foot put. Joe took three from the
edge. Recently Joe shot 68-70-67-69 for
274 to win at Baton Rouge, La., and last
November Joe won the Beaumont, Tex.,
Open with*277.